


A Separate Deal with Death

by epersonae



Series: The Director [13]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Stolen Century Spoilers, implied Taako/Kravitz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 04:36:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11410356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epersonae/pseuds/epersonae
Summary: The Director gets a visit. An arrangement is clarified and another is made.





	A Separate Deal with Death

Lucretia looks up from her desk, frowning slightly, as a shimmering rift appears in space. The tear elongates and widens, until it becomes vaguely door-shaped. Then a man dressed in a cloak over an elegant dark suit steps through, carrying a scythe. A book materializes floating in front of him.

“I was wondering when you would show up,” she says. “It’s Kravitz, yes?”

He clears his throat and the book vanishes.

“Well. Then. You ain’t all that surprised. A bit more on the ball than the blokes.”

“Indeed.” She purses her lips and taps the feather end of her quill on her desk. “That...that book of yours, it says four deaths on my account, doesn’t it? And I don’t know exactly how these things work, but I’m guessing my name is listed there with Magnus and Taako and Merle? Right?”

He blinks rapidly.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she says. “I’m also going to assume that there’s a few other names along with us, but let’s set that aside for now.”

His mouth is agape and his eyes are set in a quizzical stare.

“Now, the boys’ original deal, that little card game, that was just for them and the robot NO-3113, but I take it that you and Taako had a nice chat after he got back from Refuge” -- a smile twitches at the corner of her mouth -- “...congratulations, by the way, he’s a bit of a handful but he makes an excellent boyfriend. And so this whole situation…. Apparently Lady Istus has intervened with your Raven Queen….” She hesitates, and the faint smile disappears. “I don’t know what gods are aware of, but the situation with Refuge...me and the boys...it’s all connected, and I’m sure someday we’ll all have a lot to answer for...but for the time being….” She lets the thought trail off.

He jumps into the pause.

“Oi. I mean, what? The? Hell? Those three had no idea they’d died. At all. And nobody said nothin’ to me about _those_ deaths having jack all to do with that other lot in that town, except _those_ idiots being in the wrong fucking place at the wrong fucking time. Yet here _you_ are, lady, cool as a damned cucumber --” and as he talks, his human face fades, replaced by a skeletal visage with glowing red eyes. “You know what? I don’t even have anything to say. I came her as a _courtesy_ to tell you that yes, Istus’ bargain applies to you. But apparently you already know that!”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I genuinely do not mean to disparage the Raven Queen’s generosity. It’s just…” She taps the quill against her lips, the little furrow in her brow deepening. “Here’s the thing. As you say, I am more _aware_ than they are of the situation, the whole context and all that. And it’s important that it stay that way for a little while longer. So I need your help.”

Still in skeletal form, he points the scythe at her.

“You. Need. My. Help.”

“All I ask is that you not mention this conversation to Taako. Something critical is about to happen, and not only would that be” -- she inhales sharply -- “ _disrupted_ , but, well honestly, I don’t think it would go that well for Taako either.”

She sets down the quill, folds her hands, and regards him calmly, until his glowing eyes fade and he turns back to his human form.

“Is that all?” he says.

“I mean, that of course applies to Magnus and Merle as well, but I imagine you’re not about to have intimate tete-a-tetes with either of them anytime soon. Do we have a deal?”

He tilts his head quizzically.

“That’s not how deals work, love. But I’ll keep your death count to myself, for now.”

“That’s all I ask.”

She holds out a hand; their handshake is brief and businesslike, and Death’s hand may be icy, but Lucretia’s hand is chilly as well.

Kravitz reopens the rift, but before he leaves, he pauses and looks at her again.

“Can I trust you with him?” The terrible Cockney accent is entirely gone.

Now she’s the one blinking furiously, and her nostrils flare slightly.

“I do my best,” she says, after a long pause.

Kravitz nods, then steps into the Astral Plane and is gone.


End file.
